Distraction
by Kikaimegami
Summary: Kane and Fawkes are up against one tough opponent, but Kane may just have a plan that's crazy enough to work...


_Author's Note: This short story was written in an attempt to liven up the Fawkes Fanclub thread on the official Bethesda forums. I thought others might enjoy it as well._

_You may have noticed that this story was previously posted with the name Kikaikami. That is my account as well and was made due to the fact that I'd lost the login information for this account (my real account). I was able to locate that information today and so I have removed the story from my temporary account and am posting it with this one. _

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Distraction

It was a sound like none other. The very ground seemed to shake from the noise. If it wasn't the noise, then it was definitely the violence that caused the very earth to tremble beneath their feet. Another terrible, deafening roar of rage sent the air to vibrating again as the hulking monstrosity finally tore its way through the sizable pile of debris and junk. Everyone scrambled, getting out of the way and yet taking time to fire guns erratically on the advancing creature. Standing at near twenty feet tall, the massive Super Mutant Behemoth was a forced to be reckoned with.

The drama of it all was utterly lost on Kane as he dove back through the door leading into a decrepit building they'd just made their way through. He took note that Fawkes had a similar plan, though had apparently enacted it much sooner than the young man did. Indeed, the mutant had heard the first deafening bellow and dove for cover immediately, already knowing what the sound meant, what it had come from, and what was likely about to happen.

Swearing for a moment in at least three languages, Kane checked over the gear he was carrying, mind fumbling about for a plan. Though more intelligent than your average Wastelander, he was finding it rather difficult to come up with anything reasonable. This was partially due to the adrenaline thundering through his body, but it also stemmed from hearing what was transpiring on the other side of the thin--far too thin, Kane decided--brick wall they'd taken shelter behind. Shouts and gunfire were the loudest of what could be heard over roars and snarls, but there were other sounds, too. It was those other sounds, the cries of pain as people were picked off, that sent an icy lance through his heart. Kane had no real loyalty to the Brotherhood of Steel, but that didn't mean he'd just sit idly by while these men were torn apart.

Between the two of them, as far munitions were concerned, things were looking pretty dire. Sure, they had enough firepower for the Wasteland, but Kane had fought a Behemoth before and it was always nice to have far too much in those cases because it was extremely likely you'd end up needing it. His arsenal was mostly made up of two weapons: a Laser Pistol that he'd 'borrowed' from the Enclave, and _Sovereign_, a highly advanced Sniper Rifle that, instead of bullets, spat lancing blue beams of energy. Neither of these were all that effective against something like a Behemoth. Fawkes' Gatling Laser was far more suited to the task at hand. At least they had enough explosives to level a small town, but a majority of that were mines and hand grenades, nothing more advanced than that.

Kane silently wished he'd brought a Rocket Launcher this trip. It hadn't seemed necessary, since all they were doing in the D.C. ruins in the first place was visiting the GNR studio, which had its own armed force guarding the building. Those men were now being taken apart like toys and the lithe man had to stamp his thoughts out--the past was the past and dwelling on it did nothing to change the present.

Shouting, because there was no way he'd be heard over all the noise if he didn't, Kane got his friend's attention. "We've gotta do _something!_ I don't think it even knows we're here," he said in a slightly lower voice once he had the mutant's attention and the larger man had bent over to better hear him. "Even if it does, we've still got the jump on it.. if I could just think of a plan that'd actually _work_."

Honestly surprised that Kane had not yet begun to panic--the young man tended to overreact and let his emotions get to him--Fawkes considered the situation for a moment, glancing around the building. It really wouldn't be prudent to take on the Behemoth head-on, but his friend was correct--as long as they stayed where they were, it wouldn't come after them, the men out there far more interesting to it at the moment. They really didn't have the means to take it down by themselves and all the Knights were succeeding in was further enraging the beast. With this in mind, he turned towards Kane, then blinked a few times at the fact that he wasn't there. There was no way for him to have heard the other taking off over all the other noise, and so he'd not even noticed.

There was a sound from the second floor--and that was using the term very loosely--of the crumbling ruin and Fawkes looked up just in time to meet sapphire eyes that seemed all together far too sinister and gleeful for his peace of mind. The kid had a weapon slung over his shoulder, rushing back down the mostly intact stairwell. It was only as Kane approached him, still wearing that sadistic little grin, that he got a good look of what it was that his friend had found.

"My friend, you are aware of the danger involved with such a weapon?" he managed, staring at the launcher that the smaller man was carrying. It was a totally bizarre image, considering Kane was slender built, shorter than most adult humans Fawkes had seen, and far to delicate appearing to be carrying such a disproportionally _huge_ weapon. It also didn't sit well with the mutant at all that Kane had that familiar look on his face, gleam to his eyes, as he reached up and patted the Fat Man that was still resting on his shoulder.

Weighed down as he was, Kane forwent skipping up to the gaping doorway and settled for moseying instead, feeling far too proud of himself and radiating his smug amusement. He ignored the alarmed look Fawkes had given him as he peered out at his target. There was a slight problem, though, and not all of it to do with sadistic joy. Kane was simply not well-trained in the usage of such a weapon, making it doubly dangerous in slightly unskilled hands, but it hadn't even crossed his mind to hand it over to Fawkes, who _did_ know how to use the thing. Instead, he was fumbling with the contraption and sighting the Behemoth through the weapon's optics.

Since there weren't any fingers anywhere near the trigger, Fawkes felt it in his own best interest, as well as his friend's, to interrupt. "_Kane!_" he shouted, just loud enough to be heard, but hopefully not loud enough to give away their position. Blue eyes turned to look up at him as he stood beside the young man. "Are you quite sure that this is a wise course of action?"

"Hell, yes I am, Fawkes," he answered, turning his attention back to the battle and back to his new toy. Thankfully, it had yet to be loaded, and so Kane was free to fiddle with it as much as he liked without the danger of killing the both of them in a spectacular explosion. "We don't have anything else to take it down."

"While you are correct, does it not occur to you that, perhaps, of the two of us, you are least qualified to handle such a piece of equipment?" Thankfully, this seemed to penetrate Kane's slight insanity and get him thinking again. At a sigh and nod, he pressed on, "Would it not be much wiser to allow myself to make use of it?" The mutant let out a breath he'd not even been aware he'd been holding in as his friend reluctantly passed the Fat Man to him.

Swinging the large launcher up over his own shoulder, he took up position at one side of the doorway, getting down on one knee to better stabilize himself as he leveled the weapon at the Behemoth who, despite being riddled with laser fire, was holding up quite well. The weapon still had yet to be loaded, giving him a chance to get a feel for it. It was not something to be taken lightly.

Kane crouched beside him despite his current position bringing them to about the same height, surveying the scene as well. Though the Brotherhood Knights were managing to keep the huge creature at bay now, they weren't exactly gaining any headway in the battle and one side was bound to end up the loser sooner or later. Taking note of this, Kane turned to his friend, "Okay, it seems they've got a lid on it for now. He's still too close to the building, though. We need to get him away from those Knights." As soon as the words left his mouth, Kane's eyes regained that slightly unstable gleam to them and Fawkes couldn't help but give him a worried look. "I have an idea," he stated, getting back to his feet.

"Dare I inquire as to what your new plan entails?" he asked as the launcher was jarred slightly, Kane fiddling with it before loading it up with a Mini-Nuke, handing the other he had to Fawkes.

Giving his friend the biggest reassuring grin he could manage, which did anything but make Fawkes actually feel better, he shrugged his slender shoulders. "Distraction," was all he said and before the mutant could even think of a response, the young man had darted out of their temporary shelter. He could only watch in a strange, detached fascination as Kane booked it right up to the Behemoth's feet.

"Hey! HEY YOU!" Confusion and a growl was the only answer he got as it turned to stare at him. Taking a few steps back, he continued, "Yeah, you! The big, ugly, stinking, poor excuse for a Super Mutant!" A lower growl rattled in the massive chest, huge hands tightening their grip on the heavy pipe the creature was wielding like a club. "You're so damn stupid, I bet you were brain damaged before being turned!" There was a howl that the young man felt right through his body into his core and he started jogging backwards while the Behemoth advanced on him. "I bet you can't even kill one little, unarmed human! Come get me!" With that, he sprinted away as fast as possible, ignoring the thundering roar of rage behind him as it gave chase. Luckily, he was faster, but he did have to take an erratic, zig-zagging path to keep from being brained with a fire hydrant.

Still hurling insults over his shoulder, Kane made for the fountain, turning hard to run behind it. Predictably, he was followed, but he then vaulted over one of the outer walls that once kept water from spilling out, jumping again to clear the other side and running for dear life. This presented a problem to the Behemoth because it simply _couldn't_ go the way Kane had just went and so it had to round the structure to resume pursuit. This had been the plan all along, though.

Hurdling past the open doorway which Fawkes was still knelt in, he managed to shriek a, "_NOW!_" at his friend, but didn't even think about slowing. The welcoming sound of a_ ka-thunk_ reached his ears a second later and he turned in time to see the small Nuke flying through the air, its trajectory hitting dead on and bouncing off the creature's thick-skulled head before detonating. He managed a fist pump along with a woop of joy before his friend stormed out from his hiding spot and right up to Kane.

The smaller man let out a very undignified squeak as the front of his shirt was taken into two huge fists and he was lifted off the ground by that convenient handle. Fawkes' voice was even more harsh than usual, sounding slightly feral. "Don't. You._ Ever_. Do. That. Again," he ground out, punctuating each word by shaking Kane to get his point across.

Being as close as he was now, dangling from the strong grasp only a few inches from his friend's face as slitted, green eyes seemed to bore into him, Kane could only now realize how much the mutant was shaking. He wasn't stupid and knew it wasn't anger. Suddenly, all the joy from their victory drained out of him and he felt horrible. Always his friend was working hard to keep him from getting himself maimed or killed since he tended to take danger head on, laughing Death in the face all the while.

Thin lips parted and Kane was about to voice an apology when Fawkes stopped him with a head shake, simply saying, "No." A deep-breathed sigh followed and he finally put his friend down, fighting off the last vestiges of that primal side, calming down now that there was no reason for it. "Noble action is reflexive of you, my friend, as much as it causes undue stress as I make every possible attempt at protecting you from yourself. It is simply how your mind is arranged."

"Still," Kane replied, very much subdued now. "You gotta let me feel like a jerk for it. I'm-" The words cut off as a big hand went for his hair, Kane making a half-hearted attempt at blocking it. Fawkes mussed his hair but good, then stepped aside so that Kane could lead the way. Sighing in defeat, Kane tried to right his hair, shooting his friend little glares. "I hate you," he muttered.

Smiling as best as his face would permit, Fawkes tried to throttle down his sudden amusement. He really could never stay upset with Kane for very long. "I hate you too," he replied happily, chuckling when his friend rolled his eyes at him.


End file.
